God’s Delight: Love That Gives the Kingdom

Gospel

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

ACCORDING TO LUKE

Jesus said, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

LUKE 12:32-40

Sermon: The Rev. Dr. Maryann Amor

I want you to take a moment and think about the person or people in your life whom you love the most. The ones you care for deeply—so deeply that you would do anything in the world for them. The ones you carry in your heart all the time, for whom you want only the best. Just hold onto that feeling for a moment. We’ll come back to it.

When I first read today’s Gospel, I admit I thought, “Here we go again.” Another list of instructions: don’t be afraid, sell your possessions, give alms. Then comes the parable of the master returning from the wedding banquet, and suddenly there’s urgency: stay alert, be prepared, keep your lamps lit…this language adds a sense of pressure and stress to the passage.

But there’s a single line near the beginning that shifts everything. One sentence that reframes how we’re meant to hear the rest: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” That sentence is the lens through which we need to hear all of Jesus’ words. So, let’s start there and see what happens when we let that line guide our understanding of everything else.

The challenge is that we’ve heard God described as “our Father” so often that we barely think about it. And for some, the word “father” can even bring up painful memories—of absence, disappointment, or harm. If that word is hard, hold whatever image of loving care helps you—parent, friend, or presence.

n the Gospel, everything Jesus says hinges on our relationship with God. By calling God “our Father,” Jesus points to a deep, personal connection—not a distant figure waiting to catch us in a mistake, but a parent in the best and truest sense: close, caring, and attentive.

And then Jesus says, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The Greek word translated here as “good pleasure” is eudokēsen. It means more than just “willingness”—it means gladness, deep delight, joyful intention. It’s not that God reluctantly hands us the kingdom, but it’s what God wants to do; God delights in it.

Remember at the start when I asked you to think of someone….return now to that person. The love you feel for them… that’s the kind of love Jesus is evoking when he calls God our Father, when he says that God delights in giving. That’s the lens we need to bring to this Gospel.

When read in this way, Jesus’ commands, don’t be afraid, sell your possessions, give alms, stop sounding like rules and start sounding like care. Like the kind of guidance we give to those we love dearly: “Don’t touch that.” “Go to school, work hard, stay safe.” We don’t say those things to control someone—we say them because we want our loved ones to thrive. We want them to grow and be free and live a full life. In the same way, God is saying, do these things, because when you do you will be free…just let go of what weighs you down, don’t be afraid.

Even the parable of the returning master shifts when seen through the lens of God’s love. The urgency and pressure of “be ready, be awake, don’t miss the arrival,” disappear, because we realise this is God saying to us: The kingdom is arriving now, in ways you don’t expect. Stay ready—not out of fear, but so you don’t miss the joy. So you don’t miss what God is already doing in your life.

“It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” This line is at the heart of our Gospel. It shapes how we read the commands, the parable, all of it. The Gospel is, then, about the kind of love we have for people in our lives, which is the same love God has for us. God who is the most amazing parent we could ever imagine, who wants the best for us, who wants us to see and experience the kingdom given to us freely.

But the challenge we face is believing all of this is true. Sometimes it can be easier to doubt God than to accept a God who loves us this deeply. It’s easier to believe we’re alone, failing at everything, and unworthy. It’s easier to carry our fear than to trust that God might be as loving towards us as we are towards others.

So today, I want to offer a tangible practice that might help us recognize the truth of this Gospel.

When you came in, you received a card. On one side, it says: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you all good things.” On the other side, write down one fear, worry, or concern you’re carrying. Nothing too personal—just something you’re willing to let someone else see. You don’t need to overthink it, and please don’t include your name or anything that would identify you.

In a few minutes, when we share the Peace, please bring your card forward and place it in the basket at the front. After you receive Communion, take a different card—one that is not your own—and carry it with you.

Over the week ahead, pray for the person whose card you’ve received. You won’t know their name, but you’ll know something of what they carry. And you’ll know that someone is praying for you, too.

As we pray, let’s ask that whatever burden they’ve written doesn’t keep them from experiencing the depth of God’s love. That they’ll sense God’s presence with them right now—and come to know, even in a small way, that God delights in giving the kingdom. Because this is God’s love made real among us. In our care for each other, the kingdom becomes visible. Not someday in the future, but right now.

Let us pray. Generous and loving God, you tell us, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Help us to believe this—that your deepest joy is to love us, guide us, and give us what we truly need. In our worries, give us peace. In our fear, give us courage. In our ordinary days, help us see your kingdom already among us. And as we carry one another in prayer this week, may we be signs of your love in the world. Amen.